US House of Representatives votes to gives NSA less power

So that’s why it is refreshing and surprising to see that the US House of Representatives has voted to limit the access the NSA has to our data.

In a 293-123 vote, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the 2015 Defense appropriations bill. The amendment stipulates that the NSA is no longer capable of conducting searches without warrants. The NSA is also disallowed from strong-arming companies into adding backdoor access to their products and software.

Mark Rumold, attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said:

“Tonight, the House of Representatives took an important first step in reining in the NSA…we applaud the House for taking this important first step, and we look forward to other elected officials standing up for our right to privacy.”

It’s important to note that this is only a vote from the House of Representatives, and it needs to be approved from the US Senate and then signed off as law by the President. This is a good sign and shows that the House of Representatives takes user data privacy seriously, given the overwhelming vote count that favored limiting the NSA’s power.